Saturday, August 1, 2009

Good News for an Expensive Bride

High Temperatures + Low water Intake = very bad headache by 9:00--> I guzzled water, took a Tylenol and went straight to bed. Now it is midnight, headache is gone. kiddles and hubby are fast asleep... I am wide awake. Up to date on all my blog stalking...nothing else to do but blog myself (or the dishes in the sink)

So, here it is...apparently there is a direct correlation between blogging and me returning to work from Mat. leave--that being a negative one...Sadly this has not been the only side effect from returning to work...other side effects include but are not limited to...increased stress, overeating, shutdown of all social activities (just no time), increased self-absorbedness or an increase in the "woe is me" syndrome, emotional, emotional, emotional...and the list goes on...Work has been super stressful since returning from Mat Leave...as upon my arrival I learned that the company was doing cuts and would have to decrease my position by 3 warm bodies...having a pretty good idea that I would be one of them, the stress of trying to keep up with the ridiculous changing demands placed on me was at times overwhelming.The Good News is...I was terminated on Wednesday...Yes it was very good news indeed!! This is my first time being let go from a job and it was sweet, sweet, sweet, all in all a pretty positive experience...the month leading up to it however was bitter, bitter, bitter (I wonder if they were hoping I would quit)...but in the end I am grateful for the generosity of the company...for the past 3 years it has been a great benefit to our family...And has allowed me to work from home and contribute to our vigorous debt repayment plan while being a mom.

And I can now proudly say that we are DEBT FREE!!! It is officially official...No Student Loans!! YAHOOOO!!! It almost doesn't seem real...it's like maybe even a little surreal, if you know what I mean.

Well, here is the background...I got a degree in Environmental Conservation Sciences...4 years of Student Debt, working mostly seasonal, low paying or stipended positions (why are the low paying jobs always the funnest???).

When I graduated from university, the naive girl in me decided to go and talk with my church leader about the possibility of serving a mission...it had always been my plan...This was a turning point for me as it was then that it began to sink in that no debt...even student debt is "good debt", and that I hadn't prepared myself adequately enough to achieve all my dreams...My church leader, once learning of my debt, suggested that I better stay home and get a job because I was going to be an "expensive bride"...Ouch...I appreciated his frankness, and yet the truth of it stung...the dream of serving a mission in my 20s was out and I even began to fear that perhaps marriage was out to...who would want an "expensive bride"???

Well alas, I met Jeremy and apparently he was okay with my debt...perhaps because he had the same amount of debt...yowsers...so the expensive bride married the expensive groom, and we had one of the least expensive weddings you have ever seen. The first 4 years of our marriage have been pretty intense as we have worked like madmen to pay off our debt...and finally, it has paid off because it is now paid off...If you know what I mean.

Well, I hardly know what to do with myself. So, I start my new job on Tuesday...I am looking forward to it and I am hoping that it will help me keep a better balance between work and home life. Jeremy has one more year of his masters and we are staying away from the student loans.

Anyway, A special thanks to understanding and inspirational family members, our kids for being so understanding and forgiving of our intensity and insanity, Jeremy for being so helpful around the house -- picking up the slack while I was working, and for the crazy long hours he would work at second jobs, friends for being friends with such tired out cheapskates as us, and Gail Vaz-Oxlade...we faithfully watched every episode of yours, taking notes and following your rules...You are brilliant!! And the Provident Living website for helping us figure out our best debt repayment strategy...we couldn't have done it without you.Thank you

I appreciate all that our church leaders have had to say on this subject...I require constant encouragement and direction in my pursuit to better live within my means. I very much enjoyed and was inspired by Elder Hales' talk at General Conferance, as well as the message he shared in the "Basic Principles of Welfare and Self-Reliance"--that talk made me think of debt and self-reliance in a whole new way. It was good stuff.Anyway, I think I am feeling tired again...That is the good news in our lives as of late.Cheers.

That is amazing. I had such a low self esteem after graduating because of all my student loans, which are now blessedly paid off through the buying and selling of a house...I just think it's so wrong to make young women feel guilty for having student loans. So we didn't have parents who paid for our education or let us live at home...kudos to us for getting it done anyways!! I am so impressed you guys were able to live frugally enough and work hard enough to pay off your loans this way in such a short time. You should teach a class on frugal living, seriously!